Invalid lift



April 6, 1948. I

.-D. F. VANDERLYN ET AL:

I INVALID LIFT Filed June 16 1944 Tlql.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS A4 [Ky/wanna ATTORNEY rs'titutiugiioart bifthe assembly? Patented Apr. 6, 1948 ":deceased "Armenian-Junie, 1944; serial-woie'niiez i (or s- 8s) Claims.

" l hisinve cion relaftesto arr-invalid iif-t-Vfor rais- *An'bbject of the inventionis to} provide a =si'mple,-practidal -a nd effective device of the above mentioned kind.

' Anqtiierobjeetoi tl einvention is'toprovide a "s'nnple formbfliftiWhich is'portable'and may be 're'adfily moved from "begli to bed as required.

4 fitnotherobject' of the invention is'toprovide a lift comprising a nurnberof flexible supporting withimeans Tor-either elevating all of the f'b'arrds simultaneously; or individually and selectively.

"Otherobjects of theinve'ntion will be in part "obvious orin partjfiointed out "hereinafter.

' The-"invention 'a'ccordingly consists in the features of constriietion; combinations of elements, "arrangementsof'parts; alidin the several steps and "relation andorder of each of said steps "to oneorjifi'ore ofthe"otherstliereof;'all'as will be om-ea outin the :foll'c'nting description, and the "SC'Qp Qffthe ape ieation "of which Will be indicated met-renewing Claims.

The iiriVeritiOrI'Wi1lbestf be Understood if the following jdesoription "is read in 'eon'nectiori with thed'rawings, in which,

Figure 1 isanendelei atior'i of a' device embody- Tingourinvention; v

Figuref 2 is asrae elevation of the "device shown "inFigur 1;

Figure 3 is a, perspective View of lthe'fdevice tsl iciwn' 'infFi'guresl "and? f'Figur 411s afdtail viewpart y in cross section, fo'f a demountable .o'oni otion' between a Vertical Iir'ajxheI member and a1 l orizoiital .frame member,

" jt'aken ionfthe linll-lfi erri ure s;

"lFE'gHreIB' Iis a iview "showing the members "of "'"figur' 44as'seenllookingLfromithe right hand side 'ofFig'u're 4;

Figurefi is. a detail view-showing ademountable ,cdfifition between a transverse frame u nernber 5 arm a "longitiidinallyientending frame mem'b er;

gur is a irontelevati-onal ivie v partly in kciaoss' section,iofemeans -forieontrolling the length, arid therefor Zthehefghtpof the supporti-ngwbancls, H individually, or: allltogther;

Figure 8 rise; (vertical "Cross s eetional'iv iewz'of one er the sevefarmeans sl'idwrit nf'l figure "z forlwind- 'cal memb 3 Bland Preferably cross vertioal mernbers Fl 4 constituting "part members 4 6 f'ai'idE H.

vertical supports lil-an d l-l', 'mit interconnecting Iiien be 2 2to 5" bed or the like Whenithe 2 that the vends 'p'fthe fi ani 'be pos tionedfon opposite sidesfofthebe n w tl ifithe intereonnecting memberd 'l 8 and "If! fefiten'dingover the bed and at ars mcjiene elevation stiftliat'jthieyflo not ifriteffere'lwitfi the raising ofjaipatient from siibp'orted. A adeiitfon em tiv 2 :1 :11 an 3 6 and 3'! respectively prbjctingtowaigd one anable bar 21 as by pins p, while collars 35 are freely rotatable on bar 2'! and are free to slide axially of bar 27 together with the sleeve member with which they are respectively associated as will be described. The collars 34 and 341) are provided with male clutch faces 38, and the collars 35 are provided With the female clutch faces 39, the said clutch faces being of greater diameter than said bearing portion, thus forming the shoulders 40 and 4| respectively. Supported on the bearing portions 35 and 31 of said pairs of collars, respectively, between the said shoulders 40 and 4| thereof, are the sleeves 42. Intermediate each of said sleeves 42 and the rotatable bar 2'! the coil springs 43 are provided, the ends of said springs abutting against the ends of the bearing portions 36 and 31 of the collar members 34 and 35, respectively associated with a given sleeve 42, and tending to separate them axially along bar 21. As illustrated each of said sleeves 42 is keyed to the collar member 35 with which it is associated by means of a U-shaped member 44 so that said collar members and said sleeves are slidable together along bar 21. The longer arm 45 of each member 44 is inserted through the bore 46 in sleeve 42 and is screwed into the threaded bore 41 in the flanged portion 31 of clutch member 35, thus joining sleeve 42 to collar member 35, and the shorter arm 48 of the U-shaped member is inserted into the bore 49 adjacent the other end of the sleeve, and is secured therein, as by peening, welding or the like.

Since as stated above the collar 34a and the collars 34 are fixed on the rotatable bar 21, and the sleeves 42 are not keyed either to bar 21 or to said collars 34a and 34 respectively, the sleeves 42 together with their respective collars 35 are movable axially of bar 21 relative to said collar 'mem ber 34a and 34 respectively. The length of the flanged portion 36 of each of collar members 34a and 34 is proportioned so that its associated sleeve 42 and collar 35 may slide a substantial distance axially of bar 21, toward vertical support l4, against the force of the spring member 43 interposed between each of said pairs of collars'34a; and 35, and 34 and 35 respectively. As illustrated (Figure 7) three sets of sleeves 42 and associated collars are shown. Collar 34a nearest vertical support I4, and its sleeve 42 and collar 35 are identified in Figure 7 as winder unit 1', and the two sets comprising collars 34 and their sleeves 42 and associated collars 35, are identified as Winder units 2 and 3. It will be seen that the sleeve 42 and associated collar 35 of unit 1 may belmoved axially of bar 21 relatively to collar 34a, and that similarly the sleeves 42 of units 2 and 3 and their associated collars 35 may be moved axially of bar 21 relative to the respective collars 34 of said units.

It will be noted that the collar 34a, which is nearest to vertical support l4, and collar 341), which is adjacent to vertical support member l5, being both keyed to bar 21, and thus fixed in position, serve to prevent withdrawal of bar 21 from the trunnions 25 and 26.

It will thus be seen that due to the expanding action of the springs 43, the female clutch face of collar '35 of each winder unit will be urged into engagement with the male clutch face of collar 34 of the next winder .unit, except that the clutch face of collar 35 of winder unit 3 will be urged into engagement with the male clutch face of separate collar 3412, thus interconnecting all of the said winding units 1, 2 and 3, and thus joining all of said units to rotatable bar 21. And it will be understood that the sleeve 42 and. collar 35 of each unit may be moved axially of bar 21, in the direction of vertical support l4 against the action of the units spring 43, within the distance separating the shoulder of the fixed collar (34a of unit 1, and 34 of unit 2 or 3) from the adjacent end of its associated sleeve 42. Thus the sleeve 42 and collar 35 of unit 1 may be moved away and disconnected from collar 34 of unit 2, and individually rotated, and similarly the sleeve 42 and collar 35 of unit 2 may be moved away and disconnected from collar 34 of unit 3, and the sleeve 42 and collar 35 of unit 3 may be moved away and disconnected from collar 3412, so that the sleeve 42 of each of said units is disengageable and is freely and individually rotatable on bar 21.

A number of supporting bands 50 of any strong fiexi ble material, such for example as webbing, which if desired may be faced with material such as cotton or canvas, are fixed at one end to the cross member 5|, which as illustrated herein is removably mounted in one frame end above transverse frame member 12 (as for example by the means illustrated in Figures 4 and5) and. are preferably led over the cross member 52, which as illustrated herein is removably mounted in the other frame end, above the transverse frame member I 6, extending between the vertical supports 14 and IS. "The bands 50 are festooned between the members 5| and 52 forming loops so that changes in the length of the bands due to winding up or unwinding of the bands will effect substantial changes in the height of the loops with a minimum of lateral displacement of the loops. The bands 50, in use, are wound around the sleeves 42 rotatably mounted on bar 21 as described above, after they have been drawn under the patient to be elevated, between the surface of the bed and the portion or portions of the patients body it is desired to elevate.

The bent over arms 45 and 48 of the U-shaped members 44 are of a length such that the body portions of said members respectively are spaced radially outward from the sleeves 42 on which they are respectively mounted, thus providing spaces or openings through which the free ends of the bands 53 respectively may be initially inserted and facilitating the'wrapping or winding of the bands around said sleeves respectively, and serving to prevent slipping of the bands on the sleeves.

By the means provided all of the bands 50 may be wound on their respective sleeves 42 in unison and to the same degree, or, if it is desired as is often the case, to elevate one or more of the bands more than others of the bands, this may be accomplished by disconnecting one unit from the abutting units and winding it manually to adjust the length and height of a given band as desired.

As illustrated herein the vertical members [0 and II and I4 and i5 respectively are provided at their lower ends respectively with casters 5| so that the assembled lift may be readily moved from one room to another, and from one bed to another bed in the same or different rooms. Preferably the casters are provided with known locking means for preventing accidental moving of the lift, as when it is in use.

To summarize, the device as shown herein comprises three separate winding sleeves 42 mounted on a rotatable bar 21. In Figure 7 thesewinders or sleeves are identified generally as l, 2, and 3, reading from left to right. It will be noted that 5 5 l'winder =sor savindingrzsleeve ands: slidabfle rin the idilie ction ofrzcollarmemberzfla; over its iateral- -ily xextending iannulari flange lfifigzand :that this mo yementiof th'e winderaor windingisleeve 'ezicar- 5 ends nrespectirely "mound :zaroun-d wsaid 2 sleeves, wherehy tsaid bandsi zmayfberzelevated: :or. lowered in rflun-ison ovhenaallithe *isieevessare clutched". to said rotatable bar and isai'd ibar z-isrotated or dies acollar f35rand cusshaped 'imember Msoilthe e5 -a-selectivel awhen bneaorimore -ofr said' collars is No; liwindingiassenmlyioutiotzengagement with collar i341 an'demalei f'aced fclutoh 3 8 of the'fi'Noi 1 2 windingsassembly. e'cordinglyiwindencnrwindaringisleeve '42 QfIND assembly-is l now unelutchd rmanually. 'Bwso doing oneican":remove supporting band 50 from winder orrwindin e'evetd2 of iwinderxassembly No. I r ineEigure wind it :11p: iurtherzon sleet/e 12 :Similarlyzb riunclutchwingwirider'iir ileave 'windert;;unit .-:l Io.-L3 znlutchedntm thezhrank reheat 211. through disengagement which isikeyed to the' cr'ank shaftr'orrotatab ar 1251. If WiI'i'der aunite l a-and 'z. are Imanually-held 1 nnclutchedrwinder:nnitiiszmay beoperated alone compri mesi by'zrotation cf cranlmu.

' iBy uncluthhing winder unit No. '1, desci ibed as: above amt-manually holding --t rout bf engagemerits andz turnin acrankfiog winders'z and 3 may tbeloperat'ed simultaneously withoutswinding unit e Ff-No. lpiand iby ieaving all of the winder units gagedto -tkfeir fixed lclutch menibers :n'especi 'ely, as snowman Figure flpall three oi the winde s will be operated tog'ether when the rotaitable We have describedabove=se1ecti e winding by operatiomof rotatable arm 21. In such operation of-icourse-on-ly thewinders which are left clutched to rotatable rod zlarelrotated.

idisconnected:tromsaid trotatable:bar,-'-ea'ch ofisaid sleeves ihaving aa :ililesh'aped varmwsecuredato the isle-eve itsirespeotive endsfibut'ispaced from the sleevle a radialkdirectio intermediate tits ends .om'ztherbtatable bar'sz'hand is" rreezwbeturn-ed 10 hrovidinewamelnng t spacera' aptedut rr eiv theifreerendroficnao :said supporting bands'and ito'gpreventisslipping oft thei-band on the sleeveas "it bandiiszwourrdiuil onssaid sleeve.

2.-=:;An' I:invalid liftzcomprising 1a drame rmovable iiromiwinder a'ssembly 3 oneic'an -intern mositiomstraddlinga zbed; ,zawnumber of The winders'camalso berotated individually barztordisengasents olhtch means from its asso- =by hand, :and toaccomplish this 'itfl'is 'simply necessary to unclutch one or:thiew-windingunits from the .others andnturn it bylhand, until the strap or"band" for thatunithasbeen wound iated.fixedzoiutchzmemberitvhereupon SH'idESIBBVB ern'ay 'ba-inanuallynrotated about said xbar.

Anminvfl'ali'd lift iconrprisingl l3) frame amov-able :into azpositionistraddling axb'edya numberofrflexup::-sufliciently. The unclutched Winderunit fis gy is plib t fl fis DP d i d' f 'then released and the ,action'ao'f spring Whimmediately'v-returns.itinto engagement with its assoc-i'atedfixed.clutcnmemberji i.

lt williithus be seen that :there has' beensprovided 'in iwhi'chithe various.objectsvhereinabovesififorth together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved. As various possible embodiments might be made of the methis invention a method and-apparatus i5 i e,

YSO: ithatttheyi dormsil-o'ops" extending transversely fithew ed-,:"iandnneanshfror modifying the length I sai'dilonps selzeotivelyrorZiniunison;saidsmeans -comprising :a sba-r rotatablynmounted::insrsaid pluralit r clutchsimembers ifixedn n saidizb'ar :m'ifspaced :relation; reach of said :members Comprising an annular bearing portion having at one end a collar of greater diameter than said bearing portion, a number of sleeves loosely chanical features of the above invention and as 50 mounted on said bar and positioned in alternate the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all Without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the arrangement with said fixed clutch members, with one end of each sleeve extending over the said annular bearing portion of one of saidfixed clutch members as a bearing, and having clutch accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as means at its opposite end adapted to engage the illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What we claim is:

1. A portable invalid lift comprising a plurality of end support members, side bars joining said end support means spaced apart a distance permitting said support means to be positioned on opposite sides of a bed or the like, each of said support means comprising a fixed transversely extending bar, and one of said support means comprising a rotatable transverse bar positione below the said fixed transverse bar, said rotatable bar having thereon a number of sleeves rotatable around said baras an axis, manually disengageable clutch means individual to each of said sleeves for connecting said sleeves respectively mountable connectmg a number of with said rotatable bar for rotation therewith, and supporting bands fixed at one end to the transverse bar of one of said end supports and extending over the fixed transverse bar of the clutch means of the adjacent fixed clutch member, said fixed clutch members being spaced apart sufliciently to permit each of said sleeves to be moved axially along said bar sufficiently to move 60 out of engagement with its fixed clutch memd 05 each clutched to their respective fixed clutch members they may be rotated in unison by rotation of said bar.

4. A portable lift comprising end support members spaced apart a predetermined distance by porting bands attached respectively at one end to one of said support members, a rotatable bar supported on the other of said support members, means for rotating said rotatable bar, a number other of said end supports and having their free f pairs of collars p i n on aid b r e ch collar of each pair having an annular flange extending in the direction of the other collar of the pair, the collars of each pair having dissimilar, oppositely disposed clutch faces, one collar of each pair being fixed to the bar and the other collar of each pair being freely rotatable on said bar, and a number of sleeves, equal in number to said pairs of collars, each of said sleeves being rotatably mounted on said bar between the collars of one of said pairs of collars and extendmg over the flanges of said collars respectively and interengaged with the rotatable collar of its pair of collars for rotation therewith about said bar, and for sliding movement therewith axially along said bar, the said fixed collars being sufficiently spaced apart to permit each sleeve and its said movable collar to which it is attached to be moved sufficiently to disengage theclutch face of its said movable collar from the clutch face of the fixed collar of the adjoining'pair of collars, and spring means extending between the collars of each pair of collars tending to move the said movable collar of the pair,'together with the sleeve which is attached to said movable collar, into engagement with thefixed clutch member of the adjoining pair of collars, whereby each of said sleeves may be rotated in unison with the said bar as a common driving means, or alternatively an individual sleeve'may be manuall disengaged from its fixed collar'and rotated independently of the bar and of the other sleeves to selectively raise or lower a particular band.

5. An invalid lift comprising a frame, a number of supporting bands fixedly supported at one end in said frame, a rotatable bar, means for rotating said bar, a number of winder units mounted on said bar each of said units comprising, a collar fixed to the bar and having a clutch face, a sleeve on which one of said supporting bands may be wound said sleeve being loosely mounted on said bar and having at its end opposite to said fixed collar a clutch face complementary to the clutch face of the fixed collar of the adjoining unit, said winder units being disposed in end to end relation on said bar with the clutch face of the sleeve of one winder unit being opposed to the fixed clutch member of the adjoining unit, and means tending to push the clutch face of the sleeve into engagement with the fixed clutch member of the next unit, the said fixed collars being spaced apart sufficiently to permit each sleeve to be moved axially of the bar sufilclently to disengage its clutch face from the fixed clutch of the next unit, whereby each winder unit may be disengagedfrom each other winder unit and thus also disengaged from said rotatable bar.

6. An invalid lift comprising a frame, a number of bands fixedly supported on one side of said frame, a bar rotatably mounted on the other side of said frame, means for rotating said bar, a number of clutch members fixed on said bar at spaced intervals, a number of sleeves loosely mounted on said bar alternately with said fixed clutch members and adapted to receive and engage the free ends of said bands respectively, each sleeve having at one end a clutch member adapted to engage one of said fixed clutch members, and yielding means urging each sleeve to move axially of said bar to engage its said clutch end with the adjacent fixed clutch, said fixed collars being spaced apart a suflicient' distance relative to the length of said sleeves to permit each sleeve to be moved axially along said rod sufficiently to disengage its said clutch face from said adjacent fixed clutch member. 1

DANIEL F.VANTDERLYN. JAY N. VANDERLYN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date "733,104 Gaiser Sept. 1; 1903 936,107 Floyd Oct, 5, 1909 1,263,600 Floyd July 23, 1918 1,273,599 Floyd July 23, 1918 1,459,112 Mehl June 19, 1923 1,660,394 Patterson Febr28, 1928 

